Combination lock switch



E. WILLIAMS Dec. 20, 1949 COMBINATION LOCK SWITCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledNov. 18, 1947 In verztor Elias Williams Dec. 20, 1949 E. WILLIAMS2,491,595

COMBINATION LOCK SWITCH wi way 3% Patented Dec. 20, 1949 UNITED PATENTUFFlC-E $491,595 cfitinifie iion LOCK sWITc Ii mics Williams, Newcl-leans, 'Le'. Atpiieeiien sweeter 18, 1947, Serial No. we

3 Ciatiin'.

c I 1 r "This l 'ei bii eter c t he a d mine tenement-w 1 chm authorizedperson circuit and operate;

I object o'f the inv combinatib n lfdc swi" firedeterifiixid i 6 6f 81pluraiity wee ic of other circ'nit-controliiin' e161 closing positionwill compiie ii eiii'm cir'cnit. 15

Another object s to combination lock Switch wit r med es ris fine. d1?)-crating unit that is rotetekjle teseie tjnmyme l circuit-controllingelements; enq wh ch s c pabie of rectilinear movement itf one 01 on myto individually move the selected circui ling elements to circuit 01 theopnosite direction to'lm moved elements circuit A stilltufther object isitch '5 or the above kind which is p om nd u e ie nt e 11m wi mefficient in teem-m n, n which" my be con- Veniently installed and Used.

Th e a t na u o v h ht r s e m p e it ro If? when considered in ecompenying drawings, i

Fi ure 2 is urn emmeer view er the ae:

viceshownin g 40 Figure 3 is an letter tndinal seenener View oi? theshown' in Figure 4 is transverse section ta'kh on line i 3:, Figure fiis" a transverse 's'c'ti'oli" ta'zken" on line i' e. Figure" 6; is art a"rieritzifl n'gijtn di showing e p'os H [of he at circuit-controllingelement is feet to ripening'position; H

Figure 7 is a wiring dielg j manner in which thespring 'gi o ts a c11tire" wired in the" i'hitii'indntt zileirifi; c117 and define a circularrecess IQ therein. A nut' H is removably m; ed .91 he f e i mi drf tionof the body beh nd the flaingefi so that the casing may be rigidlysecuregl to an instril rnent panel .2 b pass n the we. e t rQ 'h an 01 eof a d p n l n lamp n th e e b w the flange 9 and nnt H as shown inFigure 1.

Spaced transverseprtition plettes' l3 and t of insnleting materija'l arefitted within the cesing intermediate its ends, and are secured in pi ceby suitable ineans' suc es scrws IS. on the front face and near the edgeof the rear partition 14 are secnre ii alplfirelity of paiis uo f spacedspring clip c'onttjcts, i' which are ar ranged in a circi ilers eries coI r'ic with the center of the' plate 14. Corresponding contact clips ofcertain ef the peirs of contact clips" ere connected in series withvea'ch other as ett I '1 m Figure 7, and are agi l ted' to; be connectedes at [3 to oneside of a sou 6 of current 19, the other spring clipcontacts of said certie inpair's of con tact clips being alsoc'onnected' semester-1" each other as atZD in being adetnt'ed to he connected to the other sid of said source of current as at 2 i through anaileirxn signed 22 and rounds 23 and 24, or the equ'iva'lent. onecontectfclip at the point indicated sit (a inFi gur 7 of one of theremaining pairs of spring clip contacts is tIso connected to s n; ones'igepi the source of cur-L rent as at 25, and said" remeining peirs ofspring l n t ed i edf 0 behl id'e to l ce them in series with each otheretndfto close em ignition circuit when an of themjere bridged, For thispurpose, the contact which is paired with the contact at a connected asat 26' with.

a contact at b; the contact at c which is paired with the contact at bis connectedes at 21! with e contact at d; the contact at Q hich is,paired; with the contact at d is connected a-s at 23 with;

- another contacta't f; a-ndth'e contact etg which is paired with' thecontact at ,f isconnected as at 29 with a wire 30 leading to theignition coil of the automohile and having 1 single throw thtzrnh switch3! intefposed therein. As shown in Figures 1-3 inclusive; the thumbswitch 3| is 3 suitably mounted in a recess 32 provided in the lowerportion of flange 9.

A plurality of pairs of spring clips 33 similar to the spring clipcontacts I6, are similarly arranged with respect to and secured on therear face of the front partition plate l3. Each partition plate has acircular series of openings as at 34, which are arranged so that one ofthe same is provided between the spring clip contacts of each pair andbetween the spring clips of each pair, each opening 34 of each platebeing aligned with an opening of the other plate. Extending between andsecured at their ends in aligned pair of the spring clips 33. Also, whenthe rods are moved forwardly, said other pin 3'! of each rod is receivedand held by a pair of the spring clips 33 and said one pin of the rod isdisengaged from the pair of spring clip contacts l6.

A single unitary device is provided to select any desired ones of therods and move them one at a time to shift their forward pins 3'! out ofengagement with the spring clips 33 and to shift their rear pins 31 intobridging relation with the spring clip contacts Hi. This selecting and.

operating device is also adapted to similarly select the rods and movethem one at the time to shift their rear pins 31 out of bridgingrelation to the spring clip contacts l6 and reset them with their frontpins in engagement with the spring clips 33. This selecting andoperating device includes a shaft 39 rotatably and slidably extendedthrough central openings in the front end wall 6 of the casing and inthe partition plates l3 and I4 as at 40, 4| and 42, respectively. This.

device also includes selector elements secured on the shaft 39respectively in front of the front partition plate I3, and in back ofthe rear partition plate 14, each selector element comprising a plate 43or 43 having a stud 44 or 44 projecting toward and selectivelyregisterable with the adjacent ends of the rods. The rear end of theshaft 39 is received in a guide 45 carried by the rear end wall I, andhelical compression springs 46 and 41 are disposed on the shaft 39,respectively between the front selector element and the front end wall 6and between the rear selector element and the guide 45, to yieldinglyoppose longitudinal movement of the shaft 39 in opposite directions andto normally position the selector elements out of engagement with theopposite ends of the rods 33. An indicator plate 48, provided with acentral operating knob 49, is secured on the front projecting end of theshaft 39 so as to be normally positioned partly within the recess It! asshown in- Figure 3. On the margin of the indicator plate 48 is an indexmark 59 which coacts with graduations provided on the adjacent face ofthe flange 9, the position of the index mark 5!] corresponding to thatof the stud 44, and the positions of the graduations 5| corresponding tothose of the rods 36.

In explaining the operation of the present switch, it will be assumedthat the rods 36 are all shifted to their forward positions with theirforward ends 3'! engaged with the front spring clips 33, and with therear pins 3'! disengaged from the rear spring clip contacts 16. In orderto close the ignition circuit, the thumb switch 3| is closed, and theindicator plate 48 is turned to register the index mark with graduationnumber 2 and thereby align the stud 44 with the rod numbered 2 in Figure'7. The shaft 39 is then pressed rearwardly to shift this rod 36rearwardly and cause the rear pin 31 thereof to bridge the adjacentspring clip contacts l6 and to disengage its front pin 31 from theassociated spring clips 33. This is also done successively with the rodsnumbered 5, 9 and I3, whereupon the ignition circuit is closed orcompleted. If any one of these rods are not so shifted, the circuit willnotbe completely closed, and it will thus be apparent that anunauthorized person not familiar with the combination will have greatdifficulty in closing the ignition circuit and operating theautomobile." Should any one of the remaining rods be so shifted, thecircuit of the bination to close the ignition circuit without closingthe alarm circuit. By changing the con-' nections with the spring clipcontacts 16, the

combination may be changed, if desired. When parking in a public parkingplace, the present switch may be left in set condition with the ignitioncircuit closed through, the proper pairs of contacts i6, therebypermitting the attendant of the parking place to open and close theignition circuit by mere operation of the thumb switch 3L. Any of therods 36 which may have been shifted rearwardly may be readily retractedor reset to circuit opening position by aligning the stud 44' therewithand pulling the, shaft 39 forwardly.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the construction,operation and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Modifications and changes in detail of construction are contemplated,such as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention asclaimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a combination lock switch, an arcuate series of shiftablecircuit-controlling members, a rotatably and slidably mounted actuatormemher having spaced permanently and rigidly connected selective means.thereon respectively engageable with opposite ends of a singlecircuitcontrolling member for shifting the same when 2. The constructiondefined in "claim'i, where;

in each circuit-controlling member is provided with cross pins nearopposite ends thereof, in

combination with a pair of spring clip contacts.

' associated with and adapted to be bridged by ter when saidcircuit-controlling member is moved to disengage its first named pinfrom said spring clip contacts.

3. The construction defined in claim 1, wherein each circuit controllingmember comprises a rod.

This makes it extremely; difficult for anyone not familiar with thecom-' 2,491,595 5 having cross pins near opposite ends thereof, aREFERENCES CITED pair of spaced plates guide tubes extending Thefollowing references are of record in the tween and supported by saidplates and proof this patent. vided with longitudinal slots throughwhich the cross pins project, each rod being slidably 5 UNITED STATES PS mounted in one of said guide tubes, spring clip Number Name Datecontacts and spring clips carried by the respec- 1 517 138 BraithwaiteNOV 25 1924 ive plates and arranged for alternate recep- Lensky June315, 1926 tion of the respective cross pins of the rods when the latterare shifted in opposite directions, to 10 respectively hold them incircuit closing and circuit opening position.

ELIAS WILLIAMS.

